Psychology 101
by See Jane Write
Summary: Crossover with Frasier. Following the death of Dr. Maggie Walsh, UC Sunnydale decided to replace her with Dr. Lilith Sternin. Chapter Three up.
1. Chapter 1

Psychology 101

Summary: Following the death of Dr. Maggie Walsh, UC Sunnydale decided to replace her with

Dr. Lilith Sternin.

Disclaimer: Nothing is mine.

Author's Note: Yes, I know it's random, but that's why I'm writing it! 

Sunnydale, CA

The dean of academics and his two assistants met late that night. They had just been informed of the death of Dr. Maggie Walsh, the psychology professor for the university. Now the three of them had to pick a new one, or at the very least, a temporary one until the next school year. Someone had to finish the semester.

"Should we be looking through this?" one of the assistants asked as he flipped through one of Maggie's old address books. This one in particular was old and contained names of people she had met at school. "It seems a bit morbid."

"Maggie Walsh was one of the best psych teachers this school ever had. She's world-known," the dean pointed out. "Whoever replaces her should be someone with similar talents."

The assistant shrugged as he kept looking through the book. He had to be careful seeing as the pages were worn and could fall out soon. "Hey, how about this one?" he asked as he looked up.

"Which one?" the dean asked. "What is he like?"

"He's a she by the name of Lilith Sternin," the assistant pointed out. "There are five stars next to her name," he added. "And she's listed under 'grad school geniuses'," he added to try and win the dean over. "We could at least give her a call."

The dean shrugged. "Fine, what's her number?" he asked as he reached for the phone.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter One

Lilith Sternin was awoken to the sound of her phone ringing. She only hoped that it was not loud enough to wake Frederick. She finally woke up enough to answer it. "Dr. Lilith Sternin, and you better have a good reason for calling this late," she said as she flipped on the light next to her bed. She blinked a few times before adjusting to the change from darkness.

"Dr. Sternin, I apologize for waking you," the caller said, "but I have a job offer you can't refuse."

"Thank you, but I have a job here in Boston," Lilith informed the caller.

"Boston?" the caller asked. "Sorry, for some reason I assumed you were local," he continued.

"Local to what?" Lilith asked as she fought the urge to yawn.

"Sunnydale."

Lilith frowned. "I don't believe I have heard of this town."

"In California," the caller added. "Your friend Maggie Walsh used to work here."

Lilith frowned momentarily. "Oh, Maggie," she exclaimed in a slightly loud voice. "How is she?" she asked. She temporarily forgot that she had been woken up at one in the morning. She had not spoken to Maggie since Maggie had moved across the country and became more famous than some other psychiatrists Lilith knew.

"Well, frankly, not so good. She died yesterday," the caller informed her. "That brings me to why I'm calling you." He took a breath and tried to think of how he wanted to phrase this. "You see, Maggie worked as the psychology professor here at the Sunnydale campus of the University of California. Since her death, we were unable to find someone to replace her. However, we stumbled across your name in her address book, and we see that she highly recommends you. We were wondering if you would be interested in teaching her class."

"In California?" Lilith asked.

"Yes, ma'm," the caller said. "You don't have to give us an answer right away. Just call us within the week," he said before rattling off his telephone number. "Just ask for Mark," he added. "Have a nice night."

Lilith blinked again. She could not believe this was happening. She had a job that she loved in Boston. She had Frederick and his wonderful school. She wondered if they could just move across the country. Frederick was ten, almost eleven. Would he really want to move? She would talk to him in the morning. Lilith sighed heavily before falling back asleep. She would think about this more in the morning and discuss it with Frederick at breakfast. For now, she wanted to sleep.

((A/N: I apologize that these chapters are short, but I can promise that I'll do my best to make them longer...)) 


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Frasier Crane blinked twice as he became aware of some noise in his room. It was not his alarm clock. It was too early to be that. He finally realized it was the phone, and he quickly answered it with a muffled "Hello". He looked around the room and squinted at the clock. It was one in the morning.

"Frasier." The voice from the other end of the phone was unmistakable. It was the same cold and stern voice he had known for almost fourteen years now. He did not know if he had the energy to deal with that voice, but if she was calling at this hour, it had to be important.

"Lilith, do you know what time it is?" Frasier whined as he flopped back down in his bed.

"Frasier, it's four in the morning over here," Lilith remarked. "Look, I would not be calling you if it was not important."

Frasier knew she was right. He had to talk to her. "What is it?" he asked as he fought the urge to yawn. "Is it something with Frederick?"

"No, our son is fine," Lilith informed her ex-husband. "It's me. I've been trying not to let this get to me, but I haven't been able to sleep since I got the call."

"Wha?" Frasier asked. "Lilith, are you ok?" he asked seriously. "What is it?" he repeated his earlier question.

"I've been offered another job," Lilith said. "I think the pay would be better," she added.

"Then what's the big deal?" Frasier asked.

"It's in California," Lilith responded. "Southern California. I can't help but thinking I'm only considering this because of some form of mid-life crisis or something."

Frasier yawned again to force himself to wake up a bit. Lilith needed help, and he had to give it to her. He owed it to her. He still cared about her deeply, and for her sake he should be at his best for this hour in the morning. "Back up. How did you even get this job offer in California?"

"Do you remember me mentioning my friend Maggie Walsh from grad school?" Lilith asked. At Frasier's silence, she groaned. "Of course you don't. It wasn't Sam, Norm, Cliff, or Carla. It wasn't anybody you saw on a daily basis." She sighed. "Anyway, Maggie and I went to grad school together. We were constantly competing to see who was highest in our class."

"Oh, now I remember you mentioning her," Frasier said. "She's the professor in that weird town, isn't she?"

Lilith chuckled slightly. "Sunnydale, yes. Maggie taught psychology there at the university as her main job. She also published many papers and articles. I'm sure you've read some of them without realizing it."

Frasier shrugged. "I'm published too, you know. And I'm famous," he informed Lilith.

"You treat psychology like a Pez dispenser," Lilith commented. "Back to my problem. Anyway, so last night California time, I receive a phone call from some dean of academics over at UC Sunnydale. Apparently Maggie died earlier yesterday afternoon."

"Oh, Lilith," Frasier said in a sympathetic tone. He did not know what else to tell her. He barely had any recollection of this woman, but she must have been important to Lilith. "I'm sorry," he said.

"Frasier, I'm fine," Lilith assured him. "I mean, I wish I had talked to her once again before she died, but things happen. We spoke once or twice a month, and that was good. I had no way of knowing that this would happen."

"I'm still sorry," Frasier told her.

"Thank you," Lilith said sincerely. "That's where the job offer comes in. Apparently my name was in her phone book, and I'm highly recommended."

"As you should be," Frasier told her. "You're an excellent psychologist."

Lilith groaned. "Frasier, I'm not fishing for compliments," she told him. "I need genuine help. I don't know if I should take the job. They want me to replace her. From what I gather, it would pay better, and that would be excellent for Frederick's college tuition."

"Harvard," Frasier injected.

Again, Lilith groaned. "Frasier, that's not the issue right now. I need help. Do you seriously think I should take this job? Leave all that I have in Boston? All that Frederick and I have?"

Frasier sighed as he seriously pondered the issue. On the first hand, if the pay was better, that would be good. California was also closer to Seattle, so he could see them more often. But this was not about him seeing the two of them or talking with them. It was their lives. Their decision. "Lilith, I think this is a wonderful opportunity for you," Frasier said honestly, "but I cannot make the decision for you. This is something you and Frederick need to discuss."

"But you'd support me?" Lilith asked.

Frasier nodded. "Always," he promised. "I love you, Lilith."

"Love you, too, Frasier," Lilith responded. "And thanks."

"No problem," Frasier told her. "I'll talk to you soon, ok?"

Lilith nodded. "Soon," she promised before she hung up the phone.


End file.
